2018 / 12 / 15

The Russian Valkyrie!​Elizabeth Dreams of Traveling the World with eSports

Reported by Newtalk JournalistYu-Hsuan Hung"ZOWIE DIVINA PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) International Women's Invitational Tournament sees advanced 48 athletes from Europe, America, and Asia-Pacific competing on the same grounds after the preliminaries. These players will participate in an offline finals at Shanghai, China from December 13th to 16th, showcasing the most professional women's eSport competition to the world."Known for their toughness, it is not surprising that Russians have their own version of the Valkyrie in the gaming world; nevertheless, it is difficult to associate the slender, Barbie doll-esque Elizabeth with tough shooting games. And these gender stereotypes have also quickly dissipated after her first interview question with us.

When being asked if Elizabeth has taken part in any eSports tournaments before, she replies hesitantly, "I have filled out my tournament experiences while applying for the qualifier for ZOWIE DIVINA PUBG International Women's Invitational. Since I have participated in so many tournaments before, it's hard for me to name them all, so I will just show you the data on my phone later." We developed a sense of newfound respect for this Russian girl when Elizabeth showed that she has participated in 20 CS:GO competitions of varying sizes before, and that she achieved top rankings or even won first place in more than half of them.

Besides having racked up an impressive record of tournaments, Elizabeth is also a member of the all-girl CS:GO team in Russia, "plan-B". When Elizabeth mentions female eSports teams, she says, "There are many dedicated female gamers in Russia, but very few of them can become true professional athletes because very few girls are willing to take the time to improve their gaming skills. Though most of the younger generation see eSports in a positive light, about half of the Russian population is still skeptical about the eSports industry." At the same time, Elizabeth also emphasizes the amount of time she has spent on practicing her skills. "I have been playing CS:GO for about five years. Normally school runs from 8 A.M. to 2 P.M., and I usually spend the rest of the day gaming at home and don't go to bed until 2 A.M. I would even play for two entire days without sleeping on holidays, then I would sleep after that."

Besides having racked up an impressive record in tournaments, Elizabeth is also a member of the all-girl CS:GO team in Russia, "plan-B".

Is her family supportive of her commitment to gaming and eSports? Elizabeth sighs, "At first, my big brother was very against me spending all my time on gaming or spending so much time participating in eSports competitions, and he used to think it was just video games and won't help my future. It wasn't until I started to make money from eSports and achieved some good results in larger contests that he became more supportive. He's also been very supportive of my coming to Shanghai for ZOWIE DIVINA this time."

When being asked if she has received any preferential treatment while gaming because of her gender, Elizabeth laughs, "I only started playing PUBG because my friend wanted to play with me. My friends all see me as a guy because I'm so good at shooting and I'm even better than most of the guys. So I don't ever receive any preferential treatment. Even strangers are often shocked by my shooting."

Elizabeth smiles sweetly when she talks about her future, saying that she loves traveling. "My current goal is to be a professional eSports athlete and to participate in competitions around the world so that I can also fulfill my dream of traveling the world!" Having practiced PUBG for many days for ZOWIE DIVINA, Elizabeth also hopes that there will be more tournaments of this nature to come, so that female gamers can also fulfill their dreams.